Controversial changes to federal electoral boundaries in Saskatchewan come before a parliamentary committee Tuesday, with Conservative MPs lined up against a commission's recommendations.
Seven Saskatchewan MPs will appear before the procedure and House affairs committee.
The Saskatchewan Boundaries Commission is recommending five new urban ridings be created, with three in Saskatoon and two in Regina.
Right now federal ridings in those two cities are part rural and part urban.
Conservative MP David Anderson, from Cypress Hills-Grassland, wants it to stay that way.
Liberal Ralph Goodale, the province's only non-Conservative MP, says the changes recommended by an independent commission reflect the growth in Saskatchewan's urban population. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) "So much of our economy is rural based. Mining, agriculture, the forestry sector — a lot of that is done in the rural areas, but managed from the cities," Anderson told reporters.
The opposition parties have accused the Conservatives of being afraid of losing the new urban seats in the next election.
But Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Brad Trost said that's not the case.
"If you look at the current map situation, we're still the favourites in 12 of the 14 constituencies," Trost said.
Robocalls stir opposition
It's more than just Conservative MPs who are against the proposed new ridings.
The federal Conservative party was behind a series of robocalls in January that said the new ridings were against Saskatchewan values, then asked callers to press 1 if they agreed.
The only riding not held by the Conservatives is Wascana, held by Liberal MP Ralph Goodale.
Goodale said urban ridings make sense now that 40 per cent of the population lives in Regina and Saskatoon. He said the concerns of urban voters is increasingly different from rural ones.
"The way the boundaries are structured, they almost dictate that one must dominate the other. And whichever side of the debate you're on, someone ends up getting the short end of the stick," Goodale told CBC News.
Goodale says along with the five new urban seats, the commission is also recommending there still be three ridings with an urban-rural mix, while the remainder would be predominately rural.
"At the moment, it's 14 to nothing, which seems a bit one-sided and unfair and unrealistic, given the growth in the population and the urbanization trend," Goodale said.
All but one Saskatchewan Conservative MP has filed an objection with the parliamentary procedure and house affairs committee. The remaining one is Andrew Scheer, who must remain neutral as Commons Speaker.
The Saskatchewan Boundaries Commission will consider those objections before making is final decision later this year.
Similar commissions are considering changes to electoral boundaries in other provinces to reflect recent population shifts.
The Commons is also preparing to add 30 new seats in time for the next election. Ontario will get an additional 15 seats, Alberta and British Columbia six each and Quebec three.
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